Stuck In The Past

The mills aren't coming back. Neither are the people. Augusta, Maine is beginning to come to terms with both these facts:

In May 2006, a suspicious late-night fire at the mill forced a reckoning: this once-mighty economic engine had become a skeleton of brick, filled with toxic chemicals that posed threats to the community and the river. To echo the writer John McPhee, who years earlier had witnessed the removal of Augusta’s mill-empowering Edwards Dam, it was time again for this city of 20,000 to say farewell to the 19th century, and perhaps to the 20th as well.

The global economy passed by Augusta. Twice. The problem is that the city did too good of a job hanging onto its productive history. Now, the last person out of town will kindly remember to turn out the lights.

What does the future hold for Augusta? Sadly, this story does not portend any hope. Reeling from the loss of industry, this city is still mourning.

More Kudos For Mahoning Valley

Imagine Greater Cleveland looking at Greater Youngstown with envy. Well, that is exactly what is going on. Why? The Mahoning Valley is doing more than just talking about regional collaboration:

“They kicked butt. I don’t know any other way to put it,” remarked Chris Thompson, spokesman for the Fund for Our Economic Future.

That the two Mahoning Valley projects claimed two of the three grant awards came as no surprise, Thompson said. He recalled a meeting early on in the process with area government officials, during which one of them told his colleagues that they would support any local projects that made the cut, regardless of where they were located within the Valley.

“It was clear to me that the government officials there had each other’s back, for lack of a better term, and there was a real interest in making government collaboration real,” Thompson said.

I'd bet Valley residents are more accustomed to reading about the dysfunction of local government. Collaboration between political entities is very much the exception to the rule, especially in the Rust Belt. There is something special brewing in the area.

Outsiders are already noticing. We've got more initiatives in the works. The worm is starting to turn.

A Shiny New Life In Youngstown

The Youngstown Paradox:

I've been so excited and relieved to be reading on Youngstown blogs about the hope and energy of the "new vanguard" that is striving to re-invent the city; it gives me hope, as an outsider about to fashion a "shiny new life" here. Even more so as Youngstown starts to get outside attention, as with the August Entrepreneur magazine cover and article.

However, at the same time, there is so much about the overwhelming weight of the past and the destruction of industry in the region, and the way that Youngstown is an iconic symbol of the decline, that I wonder if I am deluding myself...

In Rust Belt cities, the weight of the past often strangles hope for the future. (See the Detroit News videos about the GM plant in Lordstown and the fate of the Mahoning Valley) Understandably, residents are jaded. That's why outsiders are important. We see the other side of the coin. Relocation breeds optimism. Even an empty glass might seem beautiful.

Whether or not we are deluding ourselves is immaterial. If we believe in a place, in its people, then we can do anything. Just so happens that I think that is more true in Youngstown than anywhere else.

Piggyback On Pittsburgh

One of the goals of Greater Youngstown 2.0 is to establish an infrastructure for better leveraging of publicity. The Entrepreneur magazine article is one example. How do we get that message out to prospective businesses and talent? Consider the logistics behind taking advantage of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh:

Local leaders here are hoping to be more effective in getting out the message that Pittsburgh wasn't named the Most Livable City for nothing.

Dennis Yablonsky, the Allegheny Conference's executive director, said his staff was going to spend the next two months developing ways to tell the region's story to the world over the two-day convention next month.

"We need to get the message out about the Pittsburgh economy and the Pittsburgh transformation story," he said. "We're going to use that media attention to generate a pipeline of companies thinking about Pittsburgh."

There is absolutely no reason why the Steel Valley can't tell its story why the world is watching Pittsburgh. What brings Revere Data to Youngstown can attract other companies. Furthermore, proximity to Pittsburgh (and Cleveland) is a strong selling point.

Don't forget that 4 out of the 5 Greater Youngstown counties are part of the Pittsburgh Regional Visioning Project. Mayor Jay Williams is on the steering committee and the initiative finally settled on a name:

Power of 32

32 Counties, 4 States, 1 Vision

The Pittsburgh pitch is now much more than just Allegheny County.

Steel Valley Shadows

Tyler Clark covered it yesterday, but a message from a member of Greater Youngstown 2.0 encouraged me to give it a close inspection. I'm being asked for my impressions of a Detroit News production about Lordstown and the entire Mahoning Valley.

I would tend to agree with Tyler in that some of the more melodramatic statements sound like hyperbole. The portrait is one of Lordstown trying to avoid the awful fate of Youngstown. The only positive images are from a distant past. Those memories are holding the region back. There isn't a stark choice between glory days and the effacement of home.

While watching the interviews, I imagined being in the shoes of Richard Longworth travelling the Midwest and speaking with people on the wrong end of economic globalization. I hear workers and students struggling to understand the forces ravaging their way of life. What frightens me is the impression that Lordstown is somehow disconnected from Youngstown. Leave Lordstown and head in any direction and you'll find the same story. The same trials. There may be one Mahoning Valley, but you wouldn't know it from listening to its people.

Falling In Love With Youngstown

Following up on Friday's post, the skinny about how a cutting edge company ends up in Youngstown:

Revere Data LLC, with offices in San Francisco and Manhattan, will relocate its research and development operations to Youngstown in early September, said Jim Cossler, executive director of the Youngstown Business Incubator.

“They’ve been in town over the last nine months and have been engaged in their due diligence,” Cossler said. Five Revere employees will staff the downtown office when it opens, but the company thinks that number could grow to 30 by this time next year, he said.

The five -- most of them in their late 20s -- visited the area last weekend and “fell in love with Youngstown,” according to Cossler. They were especially impressed at the low cost of living here. ...

... Revere Data was struck by the low cost of doing business in the Youngstown area. “They don’t need to be based in San Francisco,” Cossler said. “They could conduct their business anywhere.” He also added one of the company’s executives has ties to the area.

Youngstown has something of value, something to sell. But the native connection is key. That's why we are building a diaspora network for the Steel Valley. Successful expatriates can and will help the region attract business.

I love what Youngstown can offer. Rust Belt culture appeals to me. Few shrinking cities can match the opportunity and access afforded in the Mahoning Valley. Concerning geographic arbitrage, Youngstown has a big head start. The innovation cluster blossoming in downtown provides a strong competitive advantage.

Youngstown Alumni Solutions

In a tight job market, college alumni networks are a great asset. Universities tend to be geared towards helping recent (or, soon-to-be) graduates. But that's changing:

The notion of helping out older alumni is spreading. In June, Lori Kennedy, whose wonderfully euphemistic title at Lehigh is “director of alumni career solutions,” gave a Web seminar for 40 schools about setting up such programs. In 2002, following the employment downturn after the 9/11 attacks and the dot-com bust, Lehigh realized that its career counselors, trained to help new graduates, couldn’t meet the needs of midcareer professionals. It created an extensive online and personalized career service for all graduates. “Last year we served 2,000 alumni,” Ms. Kennedy said. “This year it was 4,000.” ...

... ON occasion, the alma mater inadvertently offers a sip at the fountain of youth. Chuck Megivern graduated from Lehigh as an electrical engineer with a pocket protector and slide rule in 1974, when rowdier graduates were listening to the Doobie Brothers and Kiss. He spent his entire career at a Fortune 500 technology company, eventually at its plant in Burlington, Vt. Two years ago, Mr. Megivern began worrying about layoffs — just about the time his youngest child was accepted to Lehigh.

On the school’s Web site, he spotted the alumni career services program. Methodically, he worked his way through the online seminars. Over the phone, Ms. Kennedy gave him additional counseling. Last fall, a Burlington start-up, Dealer.com, was seeking a software developer. He opened Ms. Kennedy’s handout. “Page 30,” Mr. Megivern said. “ ‘Interview Skills.’ ”

Then, salary negotiations. “I kept making emergency calls to Lori,” Mr. Megivern said. “She would say, ‘Consider this factor, consider that one.’ ”

He started the new job in March. In a sense, he has come full circle, living something of the free-spirited life envisioned by many of his generation. The company has bean bag chairs in the conference room, a gym and a cafeteria with organic food. He bikes to work.

In June, 35 years after graduating from Lehigh, Mr. Megivern attended his first college reunion there. “I gave Lehigh a little money, too,” he said. “Not enough to name a building after me.”

But, Mr. Megivern noted, “They are getting a much larger amount as well — my daughter’s tuition.”

Institutions of higher education are recognizing the value of a lifelong relationship with their clients (i.e. students). Regions could do the same. Coupling with the local university is one way. But doing so isn't necessary. Labor mobility services for expatriates could pay big dividends in terms of economic development.

Ireland's Emigrant Advice Network is a good, albeit rare, example of the practice. It is a strange way to think about brain drain. Leaving home is a lot like graduating from college. You do so in order to tap greater economic opportunity. However, moving out doesn't necessarily mean moving on.